Game #2 - Tesoro

TESORO TITANS (1-0) VS NEWPORT HARBOR SAILORS (0-1)

8.24.2023 (THU NIGHT)

FAITH. FAMILY. FRIENDS. FOOTBALL. FINISH.

660

$10.00

WELCOME

Dear booster club members (parents) and fans around the world.

Yes, “fans around the world” because, as you may have noticed, we are streaming the games with help from Tar TV and our talented broadcasters.

If you are new to the Newport Harbor Football scene, welcome. If you have been around a while, welcome back. A lot of people ask me:

“What exactly is the booster club in charge of?”

Well, thanks for asking.

The Newport Harbor Football Booster Club supports the efforts of the coaches (and players) on the football team. Think of us just the way it sounds, “the boost.” We help boost the team with our time and resources.

Every parent with a player on the team is in the booster club. We ask for volunteers (time) and suggested contributions (money) several times per year. Football is a demanding sport, and it needs time and

resources from our parents and community to make it all work.

The game tonight is our home opener. It will also give us perspective on how far (in a short time) Coach Lofthouse and the staff have come as a program.

A huge “Thank You” to those that have given in the past (both time and money) in support of all these neighborhood kids. The program simply would not be possible without the generosity of the Newport/Mesa community.

Finally, I would be remiss not to mention my gratitude for Coach Mike Giddings. When I took the job as Booster Club president (2018) Coach Giddings tracked me down and asked me if there was anything he could do for the program.

Not being an NHHS alumnus myself, I had never heard of him. When I met Coach Giddings, he explained to me that he was the Newport Head Coach in the 1980s. I thought that it was great that he wanted to help. After the meeting, I was very impressed by how fast he would recall players’ names and game scores during his time at

Newport. Blow-by-blow details.

After the meeting, I was sharing with some other parents/friends that “Coach Giddings and I had a meeting” – and he was willing to help with boosting the program. “You know who he is, right?” one of the more in-the-know parents said. “Yeah, he was a coach here in the ’80s.” “Well, that’s true – but there’s much more to him than that.”

Turn to page 20 for local sportswriter Rich Dunn’s cover story on the life of Coach Giddings.

Rest in peace, Coach. Thanks for everything. O

Jason Lavin, Booster Club President ‘18-‘23 JLavin@TarFootball.com

QBS JAKE MEER (SO.), JADEN O’NEAL (SO.), AND BODE STEFANO (JR.) OBSERVE THE NATIONAL ANTHEM BEFORE THE ST. PAUL GAME.

Sea Kings

Sunset Rewind

Moe Pottios HOST

Kevin Dull HOST

To all alumni, parents, and community supporters – welcome!

This is NHHS’s 94th year of playing football.

Coach Lofthouse and the football staff have our team ready for the first home game. Thanks to all of you that have come out to support the football program, band, cheer and ASB. It’s a great time to be a Sailor.

“2022 CIF Semifinals and 2021 Division 6 CIF Champions” is, of course an easy metric to cite when someone asks me, “How is the football program doing?” I must admit, it feels good to be playing football over Thanksgiving the last couple of years. My hunch is that we have some good football to watch this year.

Yes, winning feels good. But those who have followed the football program know that there’s always much more to the success of the program than just the record.

Since Coach Lofthouse took the reins in the spring of 2018, our student-athletes have endured a high-intensity regimen of strength and conditioning. Yes, this translates to winning games. But more importantly the players’ discipline and strong work habits also transfer to the classroom.

If this school year is like the last few, I am certain to hear teachers tell me that it’s a pleasure to have a football player in their class. Thank you, Coach Lofthouse, for setting that tone. After all, that’s what it’s all about.

Each year, I have a request from our fans.

Let’s piggy-back on Coach Lofthouse, the staff, and the players in GIVING OUR BEST on the following fronts:

n Let’s show OUR BEST RESPECT to the hard work and competitive spirit of our young men and women as they compete – by modeling good sportsmanship and proper decorum at all of our games and events.

n Let’s offer OUR BEST HOSPITALITY to the guests that we host at Davidson Field. We have the most beautiful high school setting in all the land (just look up at the sky at kickoff). Let’s be thankful for that and make sure our guests feel welcome.

n Finally, let’s give OUR BEST EFFORT in all things we do as Sailors, whether that be on the field, in the classroom, or around the community.

On this special night (first home game of 2023) I would like to thank the dedicated student-athletes class of 2023 of football, band, and cheer—along with all the parents and supporters who have devoted their time, effort, and money to our programs. Thank you and, as always, go Sailors! O

Sean Boulton, Principal

(L-R) MELISSA TARAVELLA, JACK CUSICK, RICK PEMBROOK, JERRY MURRAY, JENNIFER FOX, SEAN BOULTON, AND AMANDA BOYER

Thursday night home opener – YES!

It’s so great to be back at Davidson Field.

Thank you students, parents and fans for supporting the program. The players really feed off the energy (and so do the coaches). As Coach Steele would say, “Time to Lock In.”

Our road trip last week did not yield the results we were hoping for – a 22-24 loss at St. Paul. It was a physical game, on the road, and while we had our chances to win, we came up short.

Tonight we play the Tesoro Mustangs. They come to Davidson Field with a 1-0 record. Our players are hoping to spoil that zero-loss record tonight and get our first W of the 2023 season.

As always, win or lose, my hope is that it’s a spirited game and the effort and sportsmanship on the field represents Newport Harbor High School and what our community stands for.

Finally, as with all home games, please make sure you stay until the end when we sing our alma mater.

In case you’re not sure of the words, here is a study guide:

“Hail, our Alma Mater, to her grey and blue; We give her love and honor for her spirit’s true. (it’s true) Our loyalty to Harbor High ever will our standard be. We’ll fight for the night, so hail Harbor High!”

I’d like to thank Dr. Boulton and administration, teachers and booster club for taking such an interest in the football program. Let’s play some football. O

Peter Lofthouse, Head Football Coach

THE ESSENCE OF COACH LOFTHOUSE’S “5 F’S” PHILOSOPHY

Getting a few minutes with Coach Peter Lofthouse is easier than you might think. After spending more than eight years at the JUCO ranks, including a historic season at San Diego’s Mesa College where in three short years the program went from 3-7 to 9-2 and won its first bowl game in over 30 years, Coach Lofthouse has settled into Newport Harbor High School and is our 6th year head football coach.

“Anytime someone wants to talk about what we’re trying to accomplish at Newport Harbor,” Coach Lofthouse says, “I’m Interested.”

Coach Lofthouse believes that the game of football, at the high school level, is a teaching tool and an opportunity to change the lives of young men through experience. It’s a unique opportunity for teenagers to not only learn values that work on the football field, but any athletic field… and more importantly, values that they can instill into their lives well beyond their high school years.

These values are called “The 5 F’s” and it’s instilled in EVERYTHING we do.

FAITH

Faith in yourself. Faith in your teammates. Faith in your coaches. BUY IN to what we’re doing on this football team.

FAMILY

Protecting your immediate family (e.g. Mom, Dad, siblings, relatives) as well including your teammates as your family.

FRIENDS

Aligning with buddies that have high morals and good character. Friends (and teammates) that hold each other accountable for their actions.

FOOTBALL

Having fun and playing hard and playing to the best of your ability.

FINISH

Finishing everything you start. Whether it be homework, a test or “playing until the whistle” – give it your best effort.

(L-R) #10 JACOB CARLON (SR.) LB, #9 CAM DENOON (SR.) DL, #7 TANNER MUIR (SR.) LB, AND #8 JOSIAH LAMARQUE (SR.) WR/CB

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A TRIBUTE TO LEGENDARY FORMER SAILORS COACH MIKE GIDDINGS

BY RICHARD DUNN

Mike Giddings might have been considered the best-kept secret in the NFL for his innovative, decades-long pro player evaluation service, but he was an endlessly discussed football coaching legend at Newport Harbor High.

Giddings, born on Nov. 16, 1933, at St. Vincent Hospital in Los Angeles, passed away July 27, 2023, at age 89 reportedly because of complications from a stroke. He’s survived by his son, Mike, and daughters Jacqui and Vicki. He is preceded in death by their mother, Donna.

While Giddings only coached the Sailors’ varsity for four years, his impact was monumental as he changed the course of the program’s football fortunes for decades to come.

Jeff Brinkley, who coached the Sailors for 32 years and led Newport Harbor to eight CIF Southern Section championship game appearances (with four titles), is the all-time leader in most coaching statistical categories in school and Newport-Mesa Unified School District history. But Giddings created a new vibe following a series of down years for the Tars.

From 1982 to ’85, Newport Harbor was anchored among the top teams in Orange County. Giddings’ teams either won or shared Sea View League championships in his four campaigns and compiled a 34-12-3 overall record. But he stepped down to return full-time to his pro scout-

ing business, Proscout, Inc., which he launched in 1977, becoming a successful player evaluation and scouting service for NFL teams.

“Emotionally, it was very difficult (to step down as coach),” Giddings once said. “I loved the players, and believe it or not, I enjoyed their parents. Booster nights were our own USC video class, films and narrative, at The Cannery (a restaurant in a building that was once a Lido Village canning company). Practically, free agency was coming to the NFL, and I had no choice, as we evaluate the pros. Actually, I would’ve left after ’84, but I promised my great quarterback, who’s like a second son, Shane Foley, that I’d coach his senior year.”

Foley and Giddings united as a cohesive tandem that mirrored more recent Super Bowl champions than a mid-80s, sleepy beach town high school, and the Sailors capped the school’s most successful four-year period, prior to the Brinkley era. The school opened in 1930.

“Coach Giddings and I connected from day one and I still call him my second dad,” Foley once said. Foley was the 1985 CIF Central Conference Player of the Year who benefited from Giddings’ pro-style offense.

Foley, who played at USC and was part of the Trojans’ three straight Pac-10 championships and Rose Bowl games in the late 1980s, broke the Orange County all-time passing yards record his senior year when he finished with 5,364 aerial yards (a record later broken by Capistrano Valley’s Todd Marinovich, a future No. 1 NFL draft pick).

“I was very fortunate to play for Mike Giddings and honored to play on the last team he ever coached,” Foley said.

In his short time as the Sailors’ varsity coach, the former University of Utah and World Football League head coach whipped the Tars into shape, advancing to the quarterfinals of the CIF playoffs three times and semifinals once.

“I think I had more fun than the guys who were playing for me,” Giddings said.

“It was good playing for Giddings, because it was like playing high school football in a professional setting,” said Fritz Howser, a three-year standout at fullback for the Sailors (1982-84). “Coach Giddings was a critical component in turning a lot of things around and getting Newport Harbor football back into winning.”

Giddings helped out coaching the Harbor sophomore team, when his son, Mike, a Newport varsity MVP, played in the program from 1977 through ’80. In 1981, the Giddings-coached sophomore team finished 10-0 and the following year he took over his celebrated run as varsity head coach.

In Giddings’ tenure, nine players earned Division I football scholarships, including Foley, Mike Beech (UCLA) and Dave Cadigan (USC), who played seven years in the NFL, six with the New York

SHANE FOLEY INTERVIEWS COACH GIDDINGS ON APRIL 26, 2023 AT THE SUNSET REWIND STUDIOS. TO WATCH THE INTERVIEW JUST GOOGLE SEACH: “COACH MIKE GIDDINGS SCHOLARSHIP AWARD.”

Giddings turned around the Newport Harbor program and set it on a course for decades to come.

Jets.

Here’s an excerpt on social media from Foley: “Most importantly, Coach Giddings had a lasting impact on so many because he was a teacher, not only about the game of football that he loved deeply, but about life. He believed there were so many lessons you could learn playing football that would apply to life. There are many of my teammates and other players I knew from USC that he had coached, and they held Coach Giddings in the highest regard, and we all count our blessings that we were coached by him.

“Coach was blessed with a sharp mind and almost total recall. He would tell countless stories with the utmost specificity and clarity of players and teams he had coached, and we had a lot of laughs over the years. We also spent a lot of time talking about family and he always wanted to know about my boys.”

Giddings, a big-wave surfer who grew up on Balboa Island but moved to South Pasadena with his family after fourth grade at Newport Elementary School, dreamed of playing football at Newport Harbor, after watching Hal Sheflin lead the Tars to the Sunset League title and CIF finals berth in 1942. Giddings never played at Newport, however. Instead, he became a star at South Pasadena High (circa 1951) and played at UC Berkeley under Coach Lynn “Pappy” Waldorf, earning varsity letters in 1952, ’53 and ’54, then served in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Growing up in Newport Beach was captivating. Giddings was raised on Topaz Avenue on the Island and spent most of his free time bodysurfing and fishing. Newport in the 1930s would be unrecognizable to anyone seeing it now.

“I loved to fish in the bay, and we actually ate it in those days – spotfin croaker (and) bass,” Giddings said. “We used to feed our family for a week, because when I was young it was Depression time, and

then during World War II we had our own victory gardens. People forget we had to grow our own food in World War II. They forget. I can hear my mom – she would say there are people starving in Europe. Eat your vegetables.”

On Dec. 7, 1941, Giddings and his younger sister, Carolynn, were swimming in the ocean at Big Corona on an abnormally warm morning in the 10 o’clock hour. Their mother, Kathryn, came rushing toward the shore to deliver some earth-shattering news.

“There were no houses at the time –there was hardly anything there,” Giddings said. “So my mom comes over the cliff and yells down, ‘Children, children, get out of the water.’ I asked ‘why mom?’ She said the Japanese are attacking

Pearl Harbor, and I said ‘mom isn’t Pearl Harbor in Hawaii? ‘Yes, Michael, it is in Hawaii,’ she said, and then I said ‘won’t it take them a while to get here? Why do we have to get out of the water?’”

During World War II, residents of Newport Beach did their part to contribute to the war effort. “Our lights had to be out (at night),” Giddings said. “We had wardens coming out, making sure your lights were off. Once we beat (the Japanese) in Midway, I think that kind of ended the threat of them coming to the coast. They were never going to come. They were never going to get here. But we didn’t know that.”

Like many Americans, Giddings’ family built a Victory Garden to grow their own vegetables during the war. But

COACH GIDDINGS TALKING TO PLAYERS CIRCA ‘85.

man-made Balboa Island didn’t quite have the same agricultural underbelly as the natural soil beyond the beach.

“We had some trouble on Balboa Island,” Giddings said. “We brought in some dirt. (The garden) was small. We moved up to Narcissus Street in Corona del Mar in the last year (we lived in Newport Beach). Corona del Mar had more dirt. The dirt on Balboa Island was hard. The guy next door to us (on Balboa), he knew how to mix sand and stuff, so we had a small Victory Garden on the island, but it was mainly sand. It wasn’t easy to grow vegetables. But at Corona del Mar we grew all of our vegetables.”

His mother, Katherine Davenport Giddings, and sister, Carolynn, both attended Newport Harbor High. When Giddings was playing football at Cal in 1951, his family moved back to Newport. His son, Mike, graduated from Newport Harbor in 1981.

Fresh out of the U.S. Marine Corps, Lieutenant Giddings Recon 02 wanted to coach football.

Upon landing his first job at Monrovia High, Giddings opened eyes with backto-back undefeated seasons coaching the B team. His surfing reputation also grew to awestruck proportions during a school assembly, featuring Surfing Magazine founder John Severson, who was trying to create interest in the sport by showing his films throughout Southern California high schools in the 1950s.

“John Severson was a guy who revolutionized surfing,” Giddings said. “He lived in San Clemente. His folks had a malt shop. I used to surf with John a lot in San Clemente (north of Trestles Beach).”

Unbeknownst to his buddy, Giddings, Severson added a scene in the film shown to the Monrovia students depicting Giddings on a big wave.

“At Trestles, my arms would wave for some reason on big waves,” Giddings said.

“I guess I didn’t have good balance or something. But I’m in movie. Severson has got surfers from all over. All of the sudden he gets to Waimea Bay (Hawaii), and here are two surfers at the top and they break down to the bottom, and Severson says, ‘Kids, there’s Mike Giddings!’ Well, it isn’t me, but I never said it wasn’t. Kids would ask, ‘Coach, how can you surf like that?’ It was hard to keep it a secret. Those Monrovia students think I surfed one of the biggest waves in Hawaii, because of John Severson.”

Giddings’ second undefeated B team in 1958 allowed zero points. In his varsity debut the following year, Monrovia started 11-0, before losing to San Diego in the CIF finals, 59-0.

“Some people say they would rather get whipped badly in football rather than lose a close game,” Giddings said. “But I’m not really sure that’s true. When San Diego beat us, 59-0, there was no reason for that. The reason (we lost) mainly was me. I took my Monrovia guys, most who hadn’t driven in anything better than a pickup (truck), in an air-conditioned bus. We went down early, stayed in this fancy hotel, had a pregame meal like the college and pros do and all that, and my kids told me later, ‘Coach we weren’t ready for that.’ Now we had a couple of injuries, but we should not have gotten beat that bad.”

When Giddings arrived at Monrovia, it was under the condition that he would become head varsity coach the following year and succeed his mentor, Frank Williamson.

But Williamson, with many superb players coming back in 1958, asked Giddings for one more year before retiring. Giddings obliged, directing another unbeaten B team.

After an 11-1 varsity season at Monrovia, Giddings moved on and coached one successful season at Glendale College, before landing at USC, where he coached

from 1961 through 1965, making a national name for himself as a hotshot defensive coordinator under prominent Trojan Coach John McKay. USC won the national championship in 1962.

Giddings accepted the job as head coach at Utah, where he served two years and (later well-known) offensive coordinator Norm Chow worked on his staff. In 1968, Giddings arrived in the NFL.

Employed for many years by the San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos, Giddings was also a head coach in the World Football League in Hawaii in 1974-75. When former San Francisco 49er outside linebacker Dave Wilcox was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000, he requested that his 49er linebackers coach, Giddings, introduce him to the audience at Canton, Ohio.

Giddings accepted a dream job as head coach of The Hawaiians in the WFL, but never had time to surf Pipeline, Maui or nearby Waikiki Beach, or any other Hawaiian break.

Thrust into the position of general manager, giving him a duo role, along with his field duties, Giddings learned about upper management and how to deal with football team owners and executives.

The 49ers, Giddings’ longtime employer, were prepared to make him the first pro player personnel director in NFL history. But Hawaii was too good to pass up. “It’s funny, but I never surfed once when I was there in Hawaii coaching,” said Giddings, busy as a coach and GM, while building a successful system of identifying talent and working as The Hawaiians’ television and radio fundraising pitchman in the offseason.

Prior to The Hawaiians’ first home game in 1974, the team hosted training camp at UC Riverside and played its first two games on the road, one in Orlando to play the Florida Blazers, another against the Southern California Sun at

Anaheim Stadium. With The Hawaiians ready to open at home, Giddings arrived in Honolulu for the first time during the season as head coach, but somehow the season tickets were not delivered on time and the general manager at the time was let go. Next in line, Giddings is handed the GM keys. “We were playing our first home game on a Sunday night and (team officials) were running around in taxi cabs delivering season tickets,” Giddings said.

Pushed into the world of pro football team management, Giddings developed skills benefiting his start to Proscout, Inc., in 1977, a pro player evaluation service for NFL teams that is still in operation. “That was the impetus of my business,” Giddings said.

For decades, Giddings operated Proscout and became one of the most important behind-the-scenes individuals in the NFL, a pioneer of football analytics.

“He’s the ‘Moneyball’ of football,” said longtime Newport Harbor High football booster club president Jason Lavin, referring to the book and four-star blockbuster movie starring Brad Pitt as Oakland A’s baseball General Manager Billy Beane.

Since starting Proscout, now under the direction of his son, Giddings worked undercover and undisclosed for NFL teams in pro player personnel evaluations in an effort to find the best value for his clients. There’s no website or public publication for Proscout, and you will never find a quote attributed to Giddings about a player in a newspaper, magazine or online article.

“He’s invisible,” NFL historian, author and Pro Football Journal blogger John Turney said of Giddings in 2020, adding that he’s deserving of the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a special contributor. “Proscout doesn’t even have a website as far as I know. Nobody knows who they are, except the teams that subscribe to their service, and they always limited (the

number of teams they serve) to half the teams. If there are 32 teams, then at the most he’ll serve 16. If everybody can get it, then nobody has an advantage, and he wants his clients to have the advantage of his experience.”

In terms of contributors making a significant impact on the game and not being affiliated with a NFL team, Turney said Giddings is on par with NFL Films

Founder Steve Sabol and Elias Sports Bureau Founder Seymour Siwoff. But unlike Giddings and Siwoff, the late Sabol was well-known.

“I would say Mike Giddings is in the top two or three of unsung people in the history of the NFL, those who have done the most with less fanfare,” Turney said. “There really are only two people I can think of – with Giddings being one of them – who have done the most but nobody knows what they did, except the people on the inside. Those two would be Mike Giddings and Seymour Siwoff, the Founder of Elias Sports Bureau. With the NFL and numbers, it’s Elias. Think how

big fantasy football is? Elias has football statistics that go back to the 1960s, 70s, 80s and even into the 90s when they were the only ones doing it and they’re the pioneers of it. So Seymour Siwoff and Mike Giddings are the two who have made the most impact with nobody knowing who they are or what they do.”

Aside from a 1982 Sports Illustrated story by former NFL writer Paul Zimmerman, there is nothing in Google or any other internet search to find information on Proscout (yes, Giddings incorporated the business with it written as one word). There are plenty of articles on Giddings as a football coach in the 1980s at Newport Harbor High, but nothing about Proscout.

“Someone tried to steal the business, to run me out of business, but (then-Eagles Coach and former UCLA football coach) Dick Vermeil called a lawyer at UCLA and got it done in one day,” Giddings said, referring to attorney and former UCLA tight end Dick Wallen, “the top copyright

Continued on page 48

A 1982 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED STORY FEATURED “SUPERSCOUT” MIKE GIDDINGS.

Dr. Don Miyada

CLASS OF 1942

Dr. Don Miyada, Class of 1942, accomplished professor and resilient patriot, arrived at NHHS in 1938, unaware that in the next few years, world events would keep him from graduation day. In 1942, Miyada and his family were relocated to Poston, a Japanese Internment camp, where he received his NHHS diploma in the mail. Remarkably, Miyada kept a positive outlook, and what he remembers most is the kindness of his neighbors and peers during this difficult time.

Despite the hardship of his family’s situation, Miyada joined the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, in 1944. True to his optimistic character, Miyada cherished the positive camaraderie amongst his brothers in the battalion. His Nisei regiment made significant contributions to our nation’s ultimate victory, and was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

After the War, Miyada had the freedom to pursue a higher education. Starting at Santa Ana College, Miyada went on to receive his undergraduate degree from UCLA, and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Michigan State University. Miyada became a Professor at UC Irvine, and his academic career in Pathology and Biological Chemistry spanned more than thirty years, benefiting students, faculty and the greater scientific community.

As a scientist, soldier and teacher, Newport Harbor High School proudly illuminates Dr. Don Miyada, our own star of fortitude, forgiveness and courage.

UNIVERSITY

PLAYERS

2023 sailors

#0 Jordan Anderson WR/DB • 6’1 • 170 • Sr.

#4 Tony Glynn DB • 5’10 • 175 • Jr.

#8 Josiah Lamarque WR/DB • 5’11 • 180 • Sr.

#12 Bode Stefano QB • 6’1 • 190 • Jr.

#1 Jaden O’Neal QB • 6’3 • 215 • So.

#5 Jagger Blauwkamp DB • 5’9 • 165 • Sr.

#9 Dante Bitetti WR • 6’2 • 180 • Sr.

#13 Wesley Orange RB • 5’7 • 151 • So.

#2 Jake Meer QB • 5’10 • 160 • So.

#6 Davis Post LB • 5’11 • 175 • Jr.

#10 Jacob Carlon LB • 6’3 • 210 • Sr.

#14 Jimmy Lavin DE/LS • 6’3 • 177 • Sr.

#3 Cade Fegel WR/DB • 5’10 • 155 • Jr.

#7 Tanner Muir LB • 6’1 • 220 • Sr.

#11 Hudson Perez DB • 5’11 • 162 • Jr.

#15 Ryker Budde DB • 6’1 • 175 • Jr.

#16 Trevor Glynn DB • 5’9 • 155 • So.

#20 Dylon Deangelo WR/DB • 5’11 • 160 • So.

#24 Gabe Hendriks DB • 6’0 • 168 • Sr.

#17 Beckham Dutcher WR • 6’3 • 180 • Jr.

#21 Brandon Medina DB • 5’11 • 167 • Sr.

#25 Jonah Takamori DB • 5’10 • 155 • So.

#29 Damian Gallegos DB • 5’9 • 165 • Sr.

#18 Aidan Hunt WR • 6’0 • 200 • Jr.

#22 Evan Cordova WR/DB • 6’1 • 170 • Sr.

#26 Jon Richardson K • 5’10 • 170 • Sr.

#30 Michael Gruber DB • 6’0 • 155 • Jr.

#19 Glenn Baranoski DB • 6’1 • 180 • So.

#23 John Peña LB • 6’0 • 225 • Jr.

#27 Noe Avalos P • 5’7 • 167 • Sr.

#31 McKay Ketchum DB/RB • 6’0

190

Sr.

#33 Leo Jarquin LB • 5’9 • 190 • Sr.

#38 Ethan Ambat DB • 5’8 • 135 • So.

#43 Gavin Haseth LB • 6’1 • 175 • So.

#47 Jayden Hernandez LB • 5’10 • 165 • So.

#39 Kaylen Yon DB • 5’5 • 125 • So.

#44 Adam Csanyi LB • 5’10 • 175 • So.

#48 Cash Owen LB • 5’10 • 175 • So.

#35 Fernando Mancilla K • 5’9 • 160 • Sr.

#40 Cade Clark DB • 5’10 • 153 • So.

#45 Duke Ditteaux LB • 5’10 • 174 • So.

#49 Omar Zarate LB • 5’8 • 190

#36 Cruz Marsella LB • 5’10 • 173 • So.

#42 Jaedan Gonzalez LB • 5’8 • 182 • Sr.

#46 Bill Hancock LB • 5’9 • 170 • So.

#50 Nash McKown OL/DL • 6’3 • 205 • Jr.

#51 Jaken Meyer OL/DL • 5’8 • 222 • So.

#52 Aidan Bertonneau OL • 5’11 • 250 • Sr.

#59 Eddie Scheck LB • 6’1 • 176 • So.

#68 Paul Duran OL • 6’0 • 245 • Jr.

#56 Cam Denoon OL/DL • 6’2 • 220 • Sr.

#63 Daniel Flores OL • 6’2 • 295 • Sr.

#70 Garrett Marlin DL • 5’11 • 235 • Sr.

#53 Sebastian Perez DL • 6’0 • 230 • So.

#57 Jagger Denoon DL • 6’3 • 223 • So.

#64 David Flores OL • 6’3 • 300 • Sr.

#73 Emiliano Torres OL • 6’3 • 314 • So.

#58 Matthew Beekman OL/DL • 6’1 • 212 • Jr.

#66 Everett Heninger OL • 6’5 • 285 • Sr.

#72 Brady Guerrero OL • 6’0 • 264 • So.

#74 Christopher Foster OL • 6’2 • 280 • So.

#75 Richard Sanchez OL • 6’1 • 255 • Sr.

#76 Mario Miranda OL • 5’11 • 225 • So.

#71 Ricardo Torres OL • 5’8 • 210 • So.

#79 Adair Alvarez OL • 6’0 • 256 • So.

#83 Brady Nott WR • 5’8 • 143 • So.

#87 Javier Padilla DL • 5’11 • 250 • Sr.

#80 Jaxon Smith DL/TE • 6’3 • 196 • Jr.

#84 Ty Ditteaux WR • 5’8 • 145 • So.

#81 Tyler Showalter WR • 6’3 • 168 • Jr.

#90 Sebastian Ayala DL • 6’0 • 215 • Sr.

#78 Nico Karaba OL/DL • 6’3 • 270 • Jr.

#86 Tony Mancini WR • 6’1 • 155 • Sr.

#92 Jose Iraheta Lemus DL • 5’9 • 185 • So.

#88 Ryan Williams WR • 6’0 • 180 • So.

#82 James Callaghan DB • 5’11 • 160 • So.

#94 Eric Madrigal DL • 5’11 • 220 • So.

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SCHOLARSHIPS

Vincent D. Mulroy Scholarship Award

The Vincent D. Mulroy Scholarship Award is publicly supported and was founded in 2009 to honor Vince Mulroy, The award is presented to the offensive player demonstrating the highest level of football performance on the field of play. The recipient…

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Greg Gladstone Memorial Scholarship Award

Greg Gladstone died doing what he loved: Surfing in Newport on January 23, 2010. Greg was a lifelong Waterman who felt most at home in the ocean. As a student at Ventura High School, he was a CIF State Water…

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Cade Feitler Athletic Scholarship

In February 2005, Cade Feitler at 13 years of age, suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of an inattentive driver who ran a red light on Newport Blvd. and broadsided the family vehicle while coming home from Ensign…

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John Gust Athletic Scholarship

The John Gust Athletic Scholarship is a publicly supported memorial established in December 1973 to honor John Gust, class of 1974, an outstanding football player and wrestler who was killed in an auto accident on a skiing trip after football…

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The Kamble Chai Foundation Athletic Scholarship

The Kamble Chai Foundation is a publicly supported memorial established in December 1997 to honor Mr. Kamble Chai, an outstanding Chinese-American community leader and a man of great virtue. The foundation focuses its worldwide philanthropic activities on education and has…

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The Coach Mike Giddings Scholarship Award

The Coach Mike Giddings Scholarship Award was established in 2018 by Newport Harbor Football alumni in honor of Coach Giddings, who from 1982 to 1985 led the team. The recipient receives $2,000.00 toward continuing education (either four-year school or two-year school) and the continuation of playing football at the college level. The recipient shall be chosen by the Coaching Staff.

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lawyer in the U.S.” Wallen told Giddings there was no charge, adding: “Dick (Vermeil) believes in you, and I enjoy seeing new businesses succeed.”

Proscout originated phrases such as “shut-down corner,” “blue pass rushers” and “nickel ends” in the 1970s and early 80s. “We’ve come up with lots of stuff, our axioms, and that’s why we have lasted (over) 43 years,” the master evaluator said. “It’s unprecedented.”

While there’s lot of competition, Giddings postures Proscout much differently than popular websites and publications of NFL player rankings and evaluations.

“A lot of them have tried, but do you know why they haven’t made it? They want to be quoted,” said Giddings, who has never believed in making his evaluations public and always eschewed publicity. “You never read about Proscout. Pro Football Focus is somewhat of a rival, but they publish everything. What good is your opinion if everybody in the world knows you have Tom Brady rated No. 1. Well, that’s an easy one. We’re just very confident and you will never read about our rankings (unless you’re a client).”

When Giddings launched his business, it was mostly to evaluate players at the bottom of NFL rosters to find the best value for his teams, but since NFL player free agency started, Proscout has become an even more valuable source for NFL teams.

“When the NFL started free agency in the late 1980s and then in 1993, when free agency began, there’s nothing more important than analytics, because it’s like what you’re getting in ‘Moneyball’ – you’re always trying to get teams to sign guys who can do the job better for less money,” Turney said. “You don’t go by reputation or where a player was drafted or how he produced two years ago. You go by what he is right now.”

Turney said Giddings is the “Godfather” of ‘Moneyball’ in the NFL and is

likely the primary person responsible for creating football analytics.

“I don’t know who could have done anything before him (in terms of analytics in football), but I guess that depends on how you define analytics,” Turney said. “And, yeah, that Moneyball guy (Lavin) was right, because Moneyball is trying to get them the best players available for less money.”

When asked about Lavin’s ‘Moneyball’ of football reference, Turney said “I don’t know if (Giddings) would say it, but I would say he’s the Godfather of it. I don’t think there were any pro player personnel directors before 1976 when the Broncos hired him. Giddings was one of the first ones, and even though he turned it into his own business, he was on the forefront of (pro player personnel in the NFL).”

Giddings was often the tie-breaker for teams deciding on an available player to sign to fill an immediate need, and how often does that happen in the NFL? All the time.

In 1976, the Denver Broncos hired Giddings as Director of Pro Scouting, as well as the offensive line coach, so Denver Coach John Ralston could get the inside scoop from Giddings about top-tier World Football League players and highly rated NFL cuts who might be available.

What Giddings did with The Hawaiians in the WFL in 1974-75 is worthy of a movie, but before launching Proscout, he once again ditched a great job – with the Broncos – for another opportunity.

The first time Giddings exited an excellent employer was after the 1965 season at USC. McKay let Giddings go surfing, his favorite pastime in Newport Beach, by allowing him flexible days off (Friday or Monday) in the offseason, depending on the swell.

With Denver, Giddings was the league’s first Director of Pro Scouting.

“What I did, I got all the tapes, and

at night I started evaluating every player in the league,” Giddings said. “The next season, we running a 3-4 and we only had three defensive linemen, so we knew we were going to claim one who had been cut. And back then they had a strange rule. You couldn’t put a guy on injured reserve until after the final cut. If you put him on the IR he’s done for the year. So you cut the promising rookie for 24 hours and brought him back.”

Fast forward to February 1977: Giddings’ coloring book of player evaluations is in high demand. And, after moving 23 times in their married life, Donna and Mike Giddings were ready for more stability and owned a home in Newport Beach since 1961, when Giddings coached at USC, but they were seldom there. They had just built a house in Westminster, Colo. after getting his plum job with the Broncos.

Giddings found six undervalued pros on the open market for the Broncos in a short period of time, including Norris Weese, a starting quarterback. Giddings knew there were no pro player evaluation and location services, as NFL teams tried to find highly capability players at low cost to replace an injured player immediately on a roster.

The potentially greener pasture this time wasn’t another coaching gig, but his own business. After two decades of coaching, including as a head coach at the professional and college level, as well as community college (7-2 in one year at Glendale College) and a 28-1 record at Monrovia High, Giddings was ready to start Proscout.

“So I decide I’m going to go private,” Giddings said. “Think about it. I’m talking about having a great assistant job in the NFL. I’m giving that all up for something that’s never been done. I thought it was a great idea, and second, as I got into it, something said to me this is going to work.”

After pitching his services to those he knew in the NFL, his first seven clients were the Bears, Broncos, Browns, Chiefs, Eagles, Falcons and Jets.

In the Sports Illustrated article, Philadelphia Eagles General Manager Jim Murray said that Giddings’ book, which is distributed to clients at the annual NFL owners’ meeting in March, is “the world’s most expensive coloring book.” Vermeil said it’s “an eye-opener.”

Giddings’ wife and daughters, Jacqui and Vicki, would help color the squares in the book, which was originally designed to prevent the making of photocopies of the ratings – “they all show up gray on a copy,” Giddings said.

But the color scheme turned out to be a marvel as an entirely different language was developed within pro football. All of the sudden, NFL coaches and executives were talking about guys with “blue feet” and “orange hands.” A blue player is a superstar or star, and any part of his body or technique colored blue is likewise of star-studded quality. A red player is considered a solid starter, a gray means “don’t quit on him now, but he doesn’t match up with a red,” and an orange is a “forever backup,” Giddings said.

In the Sports Illustrated piece, an orange was a player coming along, and “does a few things that would make him a starter, but other things that do not match up.”

A black is a “keep alive” – for ascent –or until he “becomes purple-or-better, or orange or worse,” Giddings said.

A purple is third best. “Blue and red win for you,” Giddings said. “Purples are role players who have some red skills, occasionally blue.” A yellow player is a CP (Can’t Play). There are also pluses and minuses attached to a color, or an arrow indicating “ascending” or “descending,” meaning the player is on his way up or down. A young player getting better, for

example, might be an orange ascending, but you might avoid an older player who is an orange descending.

In addition to the world’s most expensive coloring book (some secrets remain, including all costs to his clients), Giddings provided his teams with three other publications: A Research and Development book two weeks before the NFL draft, filled with the latest trends, analyses and statistical breakdowns, and the Disaster List, which starts shortly after training camp opens and continues on a weekly basis throughout the season with updated ratings of the OTs (Out There) and UEs (Unemployeds). The OTs have been cut in training camp and are out there waiting for a text or phone call. An OT becomes a UE if he isn’t signed by the end of the campaign. If the center on your NFL team goes down with an injury a week before the season starts, the first thing team executives will do is check the Disaster List, “which some of Giddings’ clients say is worth the price of admission alone,” Zimmerman wrote in Sports Illustrated.

The R&D book comes in handy for NFL executives, who are often searching for new talent as the NFL draft proves each year that its outcomes and predictions are anything but a sure thing.

“There are 2,066 active players on 32 NFL rosters (in 2020), and 680 of them were not drafted,” Giddings said. “That’s 30%. Over 30% of the players aren’t drafted. That shows what an inexact science it is.”

Proscout’s latest and perhaps most valuable book these days is the February UF Book, which is focused on veteran players “out of their contract seeking that huge payday,” Giddings said. “The UF Book is for Un-Restricted Free (misnomer) Agents, and there are about 400 vets (each year).” The UF Book “changed our business,” Giddings said. “It is im-

portant due to the fact the 32 teams have misspent over $2 billion on PSI-identified low-odds players (5% to 10% chance of producing as a starter). Why? Because of misevaluations, and those adding them, it is not their money. That is $2 billion in the last three years (20172019). The golden egg is in trouble. The NFL is oblivious.”

That’s a mouthful saying the NFL has wasted $2 billion in three years on lowodds unrestricted free agents. But that’s also why teams have sought Giddings’ services.

The call came loud and clear for Giddings that there was a need for his services when he was coaching for the 49ers. At the time, NFL teams were only scouting college players, and not for rating or finding pros, and when there was an immediate need for a player at a certain position, teams were often scrambling to locate viable replacements. Because of his knack to spot talent and accurately evaluate pro players, the 49ers were prepared to make Giddings their first Director of Pro Scouting.

Giddings said: “Nobody was scouting players. It actually started with the ’Niners. Actually it was (Jim) Sniadecki, my third outside ‘backer. He tore an Achilles. We’re playing in Buffalo and it’s the second game of the season. And our head coach (Dick Nolan) says who are we going to replace Sni with? And I thought well isn’t that our front office job? And in those days – it’s like 1973 – our front office only scouted college guys. And so (Nolan) said you’re always bugging me to do more and all that, and he says I think we’ll make you in charge of pro scouting next year. Well, next year never came because that’s when I went to Hawaii.”

There is expected to be a celebration of life for Giddings in November. Stay tuned for more information through the Newport Harbor football website. O

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